IAS 38: Intangible Asset or Expense?
Recently I had an argument with auditors of one company related to the customer list they bought. The company paid significant amount of cash for the list of customers of telecommunications. The list contained the names, addresses and phone numbers of all the clients. And,…
Top 3 Questions about IAS 41 Agriculture
I rarely publish articles about specific sectors, but this time, I decided to make an exception. Why? The reason is that although most of you do NOT deal with agriculture, it is still one of the most important industries in the world. It is so…
How to Test Goodwill for Impairment
When a company acquires control over another company, then often a goodwill arises, too. You should present it as an intangible asset, but when you think about it carefully, a goodwill is not a typical asset, because unlike other assets, you cannot sell it to…
Summary of IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations
When a company (or another entity) plans to sell an asset and / or stop some part of its business, then it might affect its future cash flows, profitability and overall financial situation. Therefore, the users of financial statements, mainly investors, should be informed about…
What are directly attributable costs?
When you acquire a long-term asset, you can include directly attributable costs to the initial measurement of its cost. Although IFRS define directly attributable expenses quite clearly and provide a few examples, there are many different items we are not sure about. In this article,…
Summary of IAS 40 Investment Property
Many accountants falsely believe that there’s only one standard that deals with long-term tangible assets: IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment. While it’s true that you need to apply IAS 16 for most of your long-term tangible assets, it’s not the one ruling all. I…
When to start depreciation?
After graduating from a university I started my career in a famous, then Big 5 audit company. If you work in auditing I bet you got the worst tasks and assignments during your first year at work! Just as I did. I remember taking part…
How to Account for Government Grants (IAS 20)
Almost every government supports certain companies or business by providing grants or other kind of assistance. As this is clear benefit and advantage comparing with other companies without such an assistance, it should be properly reported in the financial statements. How? Let’s explain the rules…
Current or Non-Current?
Most balance sheets present individual items in distinction to current and non-current (except for banks and similar institutions). This seems so basic and obvious that most of us do not really think about classifying individual assets and liabilities as current and non-current. We do it…
Monetary or Non-Monetary?
Updated: May 2023 When you need to translate your items denominated in foreign currency to your own functional currency, then there’s one little problem: Is that item monetary or non-monetary? If you determine the nature of your item incorrectly, it can lead to totally wrong…
